2.1 Session 1: Introduction to PRA and
Rangeland development

The initial session was an introduction to participatory
research and the historical context of PRA in the development paradigm since the
early 1950s. First the participants were asked to give their ideas of what
constitutes participation. These ideas were recorded on a flip chart and
included:

On the whole these responses suggested an awareness of the
broad definition of participation. However, the specialist meaning of
participatory approaches to research or PRA was generally novel to the workshop
participants. A series of simple, but carefully worked out Arabic overhead
transparencies were then presented discussing the requirements of participatory
research, the kinds of information gathered, who takes part in this kind of
research, a typology of different kinds of participation, and finally important
considerations about participatory approaches. An attempt was made to close the
session with a brief consideration of the nine myths about PRA.
(However this proved to be premature and was dropped with the idea of
reintroducing it at the end of the workshop if time allowed).

The following session which was to focus on communication
skills, attitudes and behaviour, and semi-formal interviewing began with a game
of Chinese Whispers. The following set of sentences was whispered to
the first participant and from him around the room until everyone had taken
part. The original text was:

· We have
heard that the camels grazing near Resafe have become ill because of some
poisonous plants. We have heard also that the government is going to prevent any
herders, even sheep herders, from entering the region because there is no
antidote for the poison.

The whisper to emerge at the end of the circle was:

· There are
some camels near Palmyra.

Our interest in this game was to reveal the difficulties of
communications and to show the way in which rumours often get started. We
realized that for the participants, in addition, there was the concern to
discover where; the story got distorted. Who, so to speak, was to
blame for the distortion. Beside the lessons to be learned about communicating
from this exercise, it also served as an ice breaker and served to
bring even the more reticent member of the group into fuller
participation.

Next we conducted an exercise on attitudes to rangeland
management. Four statements regarding what group(s) should be responsible for
managing the rangeland in the Syrian badia were put up in different
corners of the room. Participants were asked to stand under the statement they
agreed with most. Each group was then asked to justify the statement they had
chosen, thus allowing the trainers to assess the attitudes of the participants.
No statement was intended to be the right one; each had its own
validity. Our instructions did cause some concern initially, as the participants
perceived that there could only be one correct statement.

1. Range management is the responsibility of the
Government2. Range management is the responsibility of the
Cooperatives3. Range management is the responsibility of the Cooperatives
and the Bedouin4. Range management is the responsibility of the
Bedouin

After some discussion about the value of individual opinion,
the participants split into three groups covering all but the last choice (the
Bedouin alone). The largest group (12) supported statement 3, that the
Cooperatives and the Bedouin should manage the Range lands. The position
put forward was that the Bedouin needed the Cooperative as an
intermediary to help them use the rangeland proper and to prevent them from
over-grazing and to plan for the long-term and not just the short-term. The next
largest group (3) supported the statement that the Cooperatives should manage
the range land. The argument put forward here was that the Cooperatives
represented the Government, the Bedouin and the Cooperatives themselves.
The users were thus represented and supervised by the government. Only two
participants supported the statement that the Government is responsible for
range management and none felt that the Bedouin should be responsible for
the rangeland. It was striking to have in these responses the reaffirmation of a
common stereotypic image of the Bedouin as opportunistic, range abusers
with limited sense of responsibility, and even less knowledge of indigenous
plants and shrubs. Clearly contact with the Bedouin has been of a limited
nature in the past and may need to be consistently encouraged in the course of
this project.

This exercise was followed by a short presentation on the
importance of peoples attitudes and behaviour. The participants were
divided into groups of four and each group was asked to role play a particular
type of interview behaviour (aggressive, insecure, authoritarian, and
courteous). These demonstrations were entered into in earnest and were, at
times, exceedingly amusing as they imitated the extremes of behaviour obviously
carefully observed at one time or another. It was interesting to note here that
the participants chose authoritarian behaviour as most correct
followed by the courteous behaviour.

We then moved on to a brief demonstration of the importance of
good interviewing behaviour which encourages the free exchange of information.
The basic principles of semi-structured interviewing were introduced and six
volunteers were then asked to role play an interview situation whereby two of
the group interview a Bedouin household to seek an understanding of the
families immediate needs and requirement. The participants were then asked to
critique the performance. The main points identified by the participants
were:

Good points:

· opened well, not
too pushy· showed consideration for the
people being interviewed· were well
received

Bad points

· didnt talk
to the women· did not give a good
introduction of selves· asked leading
questions· cut respondents off before
completing answers· took notes in a distracting
way

This session was tremendously amusing and enjoyed by all
participants. They were clearly able to distinguish minute details of behaviour
and assign meanings to small symbolic acts. Their sensitivity to the attitudes
and behaviour of others was clearly finely tuned. Its impact on the outcome of
an interview, and the kind of information and discussion that would result,
seems not to have been considered earlier.

The ten most important points in sensitive interviewing were
reviewed which completed the first day of training.

2.3 Session 3: Informal
mapping

Prior to commencing the assigned topic for the second day, the
participants were asked to give their opinion as to why participation was so
important. The main points they gave were as follows:

· beneficiaries
share in project work· there is collective
decision-making· gender roles become
important· planning and analysis is
shared· the real picture
emerges· there is equality for all
parties· responsibility is shared and
results are positive

As a bridge to the session of the day, the knotty
problem game was played. All the participants took part and the value of group
problem-solving was clearly revealed. The person asked to untie the knot by only
giving verbal instructions stopped trying after several minutes. The group then
untied itself instantly, clearly demonstrating the practical way that working
together with local communities facilitates efficient problem-solving.

A second game was conducted, the fact, opinion, or
rumour test. This exercise worked with a difficulty that had been
recognized the day before - the problem of determining whether a statement is a
fact, or a rumour/opinion. A heated discussion ensued over whether certain
statements were opinion or rumours. This had to be cut short to continue the
days programme.

The first session of the second day was on mapping techniques
and their use in acquiring indigenous knowledge of the range and its plants and
shrubs. The participants were divided into four groups. Each group was asked to
draw a map indicating different things. The topics were:

· a service map of
Palmyra· a natural resource map of the
badia· a migration map of the
Bedouin· an institutions/service map
from the Bedouin point of view

Two of the maps were drawn in the room on the floor using
paper and coloured markers, while two of the maps were drawn outside the room on
tables using paper and markers. The map of the services in Palmyra was drawn in
great detail and showed an intimate knowledge of the government and private
services available in rapidly growing town of 45,000 people. The map of the
natural resources in the badia showed a fairly rich variety of the plants
and shrubs, and a few of the water and other resources. The migration map of the
badia gave a fairly general, broad picture of the major tribal movements
during the eastern (winter) and western (summer) migrations. The group working
on the map of the institutions/services of a Bedouin family had some
initial difficulties and required additional help and support in conceptualizing
the mapping exercise.

2.4 Session 4: Matrix ranking and
scoring

This session commenced with a simple ranking exercise. Eight
volunteers were called for. One participant was asked to go out of the room
while another volunteer ranked the six remaining participants (arranged
according to a criterion decided upon by him/her). The volunteer outside in the
hall was then asked to come in and try to identify the criterion for ranking.
This simple exercise paved the way for a brief explanation of matrix ranking and
scoring. A group exercise on food preference was then conducted as a concrete
example of how to do a scoring exercise. Time was very short and this exercise
did not get the attention it needed. Nevertheless, the groups seemed to
understand the principles involved, although they requested more exercises to
consolidate their new knowledge. They were then divided into four groups to
attempt a ranking exercise of the relative value of shrubs and plants in the
badia. Their findings were reviewed briefly by the whole of the workshop
group.

Before closing the three tools - semi-structured interviewing,
informal mapping and matrix scoring - were discussed again in preparation for
the next session, a practical field session where these tools were to be put to
the test.

2.5 Session 5: Practical field
work

Prior to the commencement of the workshop, the author visited
the leading members of the three Cooperatives that are part of the project area,
as well as local farming and Bedouin households. These field trips were,
in part, to select a sample of households to which the participants could visit
during the workshop to try out participatory research tools. A representative
sample of Bedouin households was selected. These consisted of:

· a well-off camel
herding extended family on the outskirts of Talila, the wildlife
reserve· a moderately well-off sheep
herding extended family in the Munbateh Cooperative· a sheep-herding extended
family engaging in some agriculture in the Abbassiya
Cooperative· a poor, female-headed sheep
herding family in the Abbassiya Cooperative

The workshop participants were divided into four groups with
each of the extension officers in a separate group and the rest of the
participants divided up amongst them. The groups were instructed to use this
time to informally interview the Bedouin families about their needs and
their local knowledge of the environment, to conduct an informal mapping
exercise of natural resources in the area, migratory range of the household,
services available to the family and, institutions that are important to the
unit. If time allowed the group was to attempt a matrix scoring of the most
important shrubs and plants for the familys livestock.

Because of the heavy work demands on the Bedouin
families at this time of the year, it was arranged that the groups would arrive
after the afternoon milking of sheep (around 3 oclock) and remain for the
following two to three hours. Only the groups visiting the camel herding family
and the female-headed family were observed by the trainers. It was not possible
to arrange transport so as to move between the other two groups as well. However
discussion in the evening upon their return to Palmyra clearly showed that all
the groups had been enthusiastically received, had learned much by the
experience, and viewed the session in the most positive light. One of the groups
remained in the workshop room until nearly 10 p.m. redrawing their maps and
matrices for the next days presentations.

2.6 Session 6: Analysis of field and
classroom findings

The first session of the third day consisted of an analysis of
the informal mapping and matrix exercises from field and their comparison with
the classroom work of the previous day.

Venn Diagramming

Three groups had attempted to have their Bedouin hosts
diagram their perceptions of their institutional requirements. This exercise
clearly revealed a wide gap in the understanding of the participants of the
needs of the Bedouin. In class room exercises, the participants had
placed the government Cooperatives that provide subsidized feed at the centre of
the diagrams. In the field exercises, the Cooperatives appeared, but only as
small distant circles far from the centre of the institutional needs of the
families. In one case, the poor family that could not afford to pay for
subsidized feed on a monthly basis, it appeared as a small circle attached to
their need for drinking water. In another moderately well off Bedouin
household, the Cooperative appeared as a second level of need, following a
primary level which consisted of the market, petrol, bakery, and veterinary
clinic. This disparity of perceptions stimulated a lively discussion.

Informal Mapping

Three groups presented maps which their hosts had attempted.
These exercises seemed to show that the Bedouin had a good general
knowledge of the natural resources in the regions as well as the government and
private services available locally. The mapping of migration routes for summer
and winter movement of sheep and camels was more detailed than any of the class
room exercises - but that was to be expected.

Matrix scoring of relative value of shrubs and
plants

Three of the groups presented a matrix on relative value of
shrubs and plants. Their findings had a basic similarity, in that one plant
(local name: sheeh) scored highly in all three matrices even though the
criteria for each chart was not always comparable. The findings taken from the
chart drawn up by the one female-headed household head was particularly
interesting to some of the group. The responses were very similar to those of
the male respondents preferring Sheeh, Yantoon, Qaysoon and then
Harmel. The common understanding among the Ministry of Agriculture and
the Cooperatives is that Bedouin women do not know about the natural
resources, or at least are never asked. In general the plant preferences which
emerged from the field study had a number of similarities with the classroom
exercise, but the order of preferences were different. It is the understanding
of the trainers that these preliminary field findings validate the
projects CTA efforts to change the type of plants and shrubs being used
for the reseeding and replanting programme.

The participants were then asked to list the positive and
negative points concerning their field experience. The positive points they
named included:

· it was possible to
get womens views· a responsive discussion and
exchange of ideas was possible· it was possible to understand
peoples true needs· getting information from
different approaches (methods) is good

The negative points, as a critique of the organization of
field work and their own actions, were more numerous and included:

· the field work was
too short· there was too little time and
too much to do· peoples expectations
were raised and they expected a good outcome· visits need to be more
frequent and of longer duration· a random sample should have
been used· drawing out criteria for the
matrix exercises is very difficult

Each participant was asked to name the most important lesson
learned in the field work activity. In no special order the points
included:

· practical
application of skills learned in the workshop· participation
of the Bedouin in the exercise· learning to be
patient and cooperating in team work· cooperating in decision
making· exchange of views and
knowledge· building trust and confidence
between project staff and Bedouin· identifying the central
concerns of the Bedouin· learning to understand and
tolerate a different way of life· improving
communication· introducing visual techniques
for obtaining information.

This list does not do justice to the sense of wonder,
astonishment and enthusiasm which permeated the workshop room during the
discussion. Several of the points, mainly dealing with improving communication,
exchanging views and knowledge, and participating with the Bedouin were
raised several times and have thus been highlighted above.

Although palpable the previous evening, the discussion in this
session of the value of the field work was most extraordinarily positive. One
had the sense that some of the workshop participants had not been into
Bedouin tents previously, their exchanges basically being conducted in
government offices. One participant acknowledged that just prior to entering the
tent he told the rest of his group that they could expect very little
cooperation from the Bedouin. He knew these people. He worked with them
for a long time and he knew that they would not tell the truth, would be
obstinate and would reveal very little. On leaving the tent at the end of the
exercise he was said to have exclaimed that he was absolutely wrong and had
taken thirty pages of notes on the natural resources of the area and other
subjects.

2.7 Session 7: Wrap-up and
participatory evaluation of the workshop

The final session of the work shop opened with a brief review
of the main principles and techniques of participation and continue with an
overview of the information that had been collected in the field. From this
point it was possible to review the inconsistencies in the data (relative values
of plants and shrubs; relative importance of the government Cooperatives) to
show where there may have been some methodological weaknesses and how they could
be overcome with further development and more sophisticated use of some of the
tools learned (such as with matrix scoring and ranking). In the case of the
inconsistencies in the Venn diagrams concerning the importance of the
Cooperatives, Stephan Baas briefly discussed how a special tool for
institutional profiling, SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats)
might be used in future analysis. A brief introduction to the use of seasonal
calendars as an important planning tool was given along with some examples taken
from an earlier PRA exercise in the Syrian badia.

The question was raised How do we proceed? The
participants and the CTA expressed the strong desire to continue with PRA
training in the near future, feeling that a momentum had been set into motion
which needed to be continued. Some discussion was held on feasible times and the
consensus appeared to be that it would be best not to wait an entire year before
holding another workshop.

At the close of the session the participants were asked to
evaluate each of the previous session. A criteria was set up by the participants
with some input from the trainers. As the results in the table below show, the
informal mapping was the most highly scored, followed by semi-structured
interviewing and matrix ranking and scoring. As could be expected, the
introductory and closing session scored lowest. Particularly interesting to the
trainers was the very high score for the field practice - the highest in the
matrix. This suggests that the experience was not only positive and encouraging,
but also novel. For many, field work of this nature has been a new experience,
but one that has revealed a new dimension to their work and which needs to be
encouraged by ongoing participatory work with the local inhabitants in the
project area.